STUDIO
BOXING CLEVER: PART ONE In this new series Martin Jerram explores the most popular DAW recording software to help you get to
grips with recording ‘in the box’ i.e. using your home computer. With a bit of research YOU can have an awesome home studio…
Thanks to the power and storage capacity of modern PCs and Apple Macs the average Joe home musician can create full productions in their own home studio, where the only real limitation is our own abilities and imagination. For the last few years and with comparatively little outlay we can now make these productions ‘in the box’ which is the popular term for handling everything in the computer. And by everything we mean everything: Recording audio, MIDI, sample libraries, synths, drums, mixing and mastering. However one of the problems facing the musician/producer/DJ is choosing the correct software (Digital Audio Workstation or DAW) to base your productions around. On one hand, they all seem to roughly do the same thing but they all do certain things differently which lend themselves to different tasks or ways of working. All DAWs take a certain amount of learning so the chances are you will want to pick one that you like and stick with it. Over the coming months we will be looking at the most popular DAW software out there for both PCs and Macs showing their strengths and weaknesses and what types of production they are best suited to. However, to kick things off I thought we’d start by looking at what DAWs offer in general and what sort of
general features you should be looking out for.
What music you are producing? Recording real instruments involves a different set of parameters than if you were just programming virtual ‘in the box’ synths or samplers. Although most DAWs do both MIDI and audio there is at least one very popular program out there that doesn’t handle traditional audio in its basic form, which still remains very popular with the Dance and DJ’ing fraternity. On top of this you may need to look at what percentage of Audio and MIDI you’ll be recording… Do you want a DAW with a load of different virtual instruments thrown in or one that can record many different audio inputs all at the same time…? Or of course, both?! So, Are you doing DJ’ing, one-man home productions or recording Operas? It all makes a difference.
Cost
Prices for DAWs can range anywhere from free to hundreds of pounds. Most of the major DAW makers make less expensive scaled down versions of their more professional offerings so these may be a good place to start, especially if you want to start with
a simpler package and upgrade to new features along the way. Most companies sell upgrades at a preferential rate to owners of these so-called ‘lite’ DAWs, and bear in mind that most software from the same family will generally feel very more or less the same, which makes it easier when upgrading to a more highly specifi ed system. Although less of an issue today, make sure you are aware if there are any hardware restrictions with your chosen DAW. It may mean you have to purchase a proprietary interface rather than the one you’d originally intended.
Features & Plug-ins Once you’ve decided what you need from the most basic specifi cations it’s time to move onto the more specifi c areas. As I’ve already said, it’s easy to look at all the available software and assume that it’s all the same, and to an extent, depending on what you are doing, it may well be. Whether, one is easier to use than another is probably more down to your own working methods although there are some general opinions out there about what works best. However, once learned most DAWs will feel slick and easy to use. Start by looking at what comes included with regard to features and plug-ins. Presuming that you’ll be happier starting with a one stop recording solution rather than immediately looking to purchase from the 1000s of other available plug-ins, try to ascertain what plug- ins are included. For instance are you looking for a selection of analogue style synths or a multi gigabyte set of acoustic drum kit samples? Are you looking for simple compressor, equaliser and reverbs or do you require vintage valve emulation with the latest convolution reverbs? It’s all out there, but often the better stuff is only available on the top of the range products, which although at
a cost premium almost certainly will work out cheaper in the long run. Working methods and features
are worth looking at too… How does the DAW in question work with loops? Is time stretching available so the loop can fi t to tempo? Does it have pitch correction? Is it easy to record a multitude of vocal takes and allow you to simply edit the best bits together? Can it export your fi nished song in your chosen format? You will obviously have many more requirements than these few simple questions but they serve as an easy example of what may or may not be important to you.
Over the coming months will be looking at all the major DAW players detailing the included features and any glaring omissions to help you on your way to making the right decision … Stay Tuned! PM
GLOSSARY Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
The central hub for your productions, handling everything from audio recording/MIDI programming to effects and mixing and mastering.
Plug-In
The generic name for a unit that you insert into a track or production. Can be anything from a compressor inserted on an audio track to a virtual synth or multi- gigabyte sampled orchestra. Plug-Ins must conform to a given format to ensure compatibility, this will be looked at in later articles.
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